Why Vedanta ?

Vedanta is helpful in knowing oneself. What is the advantage of knowing oneself ?. once one starts seeing oneself at deeper and deeper levels, at the very minimum one is able to manage oneself better. Managing oneself is the same as managing life around oneself. Managing life is managing your job, your relations, your health and so on. It may not translate directly to the ultimate peace, ultimate joy etc., at least immediately. These are its long-term goals.
So what is different of this from psychoanalysing oneself ? The difference is the standpoint. Psychoanalysis is trying to make you happy, or functional, or most of the times, does not know what it is trying to do. People like Freud et. al have a particular viewpoint which they are trying to justify or prove correct through infinite psychoanalysis.
In Vedanta and allied spiritual traditions, the standpoint is that one is not the body, mind, intellect at all, but a soul, which is attributeless, formless, of the nature of consciousness, bliss, eternal witness etc. Hearing this, psychiatrists get excited and say there is no such thing, all this is hocus-pocus, and go back to writing their papers, looping into one infinite set of verbal diarrheas.
If one takes a minute off, and digs a little deeper, one finds out what its value is. You don’t have to believe in the soul. But the standpoint it takes you to is of a pure observer. Now what is this “pure” observer. A pure observer is one who is unaffected by what is being observed. A pure observer is not party to what is being observed. A true third party if there is such. Vedanta is encouraging you or getting you to the standpoint of becoming an unconditional, unaffected, uninvolved observer of oneself. Unconditional means nonjudgemental. Uninvolved means not involved. All attributes of “pure” observer.
So, what is the value of learning to become an unconditional, unaffected observer of oneself? Let’s take one e.g.:one is prone to getting panic attacks. As one learns to become an unconditional, unaffected observer of oneself, there will be one part of you which is unaffected, which is able to observe the panic attack come and go. The ‘hold’ that the panic attack has on the individual reduces. By which I mean the panic attack, or the buildup of the anxiety becomes a smaller portion of his experience, it does not overwhelm as much as before. As he becomes more adept at becoming a pure observer, the hold of the panic attack becomes less and less until it kind of gets bored of the individual, because the individual is no longer feeding into it, the regenerative cycle is broken, the buildup is not taking place. Panic attacks become a memory trace of the past, and one becomes free, aka liberated from it, most likely forever.
Oh…ok…. its useful in panic attacks. Is it useful in other cases lets take another example. One Mr John had daily squabbles with his wife. She constantly irritates him, nags him. Is blockheaded, obstinate, nonunderstanding et al. John will develop good English vocabulary describing her characteristics. Very surprisingly, his wife has developed the same vocabulary for him. Other than developing better vocabulary, theirs is not a pleasant life.
Now Mr John develops the ability to see oneself unconditionally as an unaffected observer. Once he starts seeing himself like that, he becomes ‘objective’ about what his wife is saying about him. He does not get perturbed about what she thinks about him., or upset or any of those emotional reactions. And when he goes through it from that standpoint, he realises his wife is mostly right. He also starts seeing that certain behaviours are irritating his wife. And objectively sees that there is no real value to doing those behaviours. With these ‘realisations’ he doesn’t need ‘to do’ much. He reactions to his wife’s naggings change, he avoids those things that irritate her. And he stops feeding back into those petty nags. And one of the most amazing things happen, for which the whole of psychiatry has no explanation when one stops reacting to the other, the response of the other person also changes. Its like karma, there is a causeeffect relationship to everything. But saying that for every action there is reaction, and in the absence of action there would be no reaction would be too hocus-pocus, for psychiatry. Especially since it’s not peer reviewed. So let’s just say the relationship becomes more pleasant and leave psychiatrists to write their own papers on why it became so.
If it’s all so simple, why is not everybody doing it ? Well, if everybody started solving their own problems, life would become a lot less entertaining. And Big Pharma would start losing a lot of its business. That could be the reasons, and very good ones too. But people are smart, they would figure out anyway. After all who wants all the unnecessary anxiety, or unpleasantness, especially if one can get rid of it for free. There must be a catch somewhere. There is.
Scenario 1: You start observing oneself. Along with all the troublesome things you wanted to get rid of, it gets rid of the goody things as well. So one does not jump and say, ‘Yippee, no more panic attacks’. Since one is now getting accustomed to be THE Observer, it becomes more like this OK, that time I was getting anxious, now I see myself as getting excited and happy. I am now observing a different emotion come and go. Kind of takes the kick out of it. And while Mr. John’s relationship with his wife have become decidedly more pleasant, would that motivate Mr. John to take his wife out for a romantic dinner. Bah, he becomes objective and takes the view that the pleasantness would be only temporary anyway, and more interaction could trigger some of those old fights, better to maintain status quo.
In other words, you become objective and rational, but the zing is gone. Now what is it that excites you? Excite, that is but a temporary emotion. Sex is only a peak joy and longer term too much emotional overload, not worth it. Motivated to take up a new job. Its just a state of mind, why run after the state of mind. It’s not very motivating to be like that. And it’s very difficult to motivate oneself to get there. Even though it would help you to manage life better. The thing is, as human beings, we are conditioned to look forward to getting somewhere. If there is nowhere to go then what to do?
Scenario 2: John starts observing oneself. John makes it a habit. John makes it the highest priority. All the time John is engrossed in it. John is so much into it that one day he walks into a car which was coming in the opposite direction. Poor John, you see he was so busy observing himself that he did not have time to observe anything else.
Scenario 3: You are getting into the habit of observing yourself. Thoughts come and go. Emotions related to memories rise and fall. Breath comes and goes. Then one fine day, a strange question occurs to you. If something is the object of my observation, can I call it me? I observe a car, a sound, it is the object, so it is not me. Similarly, my breath, thoughts et al are things I can observe, so it is an object of MY observation. Who am I, I mean the real I. Am I the person who is observing, or the person who is being observed, or maybe the person who is watching the person who is observing, or am I all of it ? or none of it ?. Or the person who decided that I should be observing myself or maybe that was another thought…grrrrr….!#$(&kaput. Am I the only person in the world who is asking this question? How come everybody misses this. I wish there was somebody to talk to..
So you see, new problems can arise. But these are some of the better problems to have. At least better than walking into a car.
So now we have a problem. We have something that is unquestionably useful. Tremendously useful. It can be the most useful thing in the world. It can solve all the problems in the world. Personal conflicts, religious conflicts, national conflicts, political conflicts, psychological conflicts, family conflicts. If not seeing themselves as ‘pure observers’, at least if people could see themselves as others see them. Or even if people could just see themselves as they see others. Will solve all problems. But then, trying to do so can create its own problems.
Now how do you solve this problem? Enter Vedanta. What is it? It is a series of discourses by people who have mastered the art of seeing themselves to pupils who are eager to learn that art. Each master’s discourse is an independent document and is called an Upanishad. There are many such Upanishads’ varying in their length, approach.
So good, next question, can you go to these masters and learn? Nope. These masters
have been long gone. How long, maybe 5000 years, maybe more, maybe less. Today’s guesstimate is somewhere between 3 to 5 thousand years ago. You see, there have been a few people in the past, who thought the problem might not be with the world, but with themselves. And figured out how to be happy without being a problem to the world. This species has since become rather rare.
So if we don’t find anybody, are we lost then? Nope. There are people who make it their life profession to learn what these masters taught, and in turn teach it to others. They are called Vedanta teachers. You will find them around.
Ah … good. Finally. So we can go to these people and learn.
Bah … you are really being naive. They are people just like you and me. They will put in their own thinking, own interpretation, their own way of explaining (just like I am doing now :). And that can sometimes confuse more than clarify. It does not depend only on how much they know, but if they know how to make you know. As with a good teacher in any profession. And that, you see, is an art in itself.
Ah … good. So, I need to find a teacher who firstly should know himself, and then should know how to make me learn how to be able to become a pure observer of myself and thus enable me to know myself. in a way which will change my life for the better of myself and people around me. Or the very least does not mess up what is going good for me.
Ans: Yes. However, If the former is almost extinct, you can be sure this species is also very rare. It is almost like a marriage, you need to find somebody whom you tune to, and who can tune in to you.
Q: This is circular. I am back to square one. What the #&#& is the solution?
Ans: Solution is to go listen to Vedanta teachers. Get a hang for what is going on. Go back and start studying it yourself. What was abstract and vague initially will start appearing familiar, then you will begin understanding, then you will see it the way they see. Then you will want to interpret it and flavour it with your own understanding and experiences. Now you can start writing blogs:). You will be motivated to study deeper. The more you study, the more you are realise that you are going in circles, and it is pointless to keep studying. At that point you are mature enough to decide for yourself how you want to proceed. You can draw up your own plan and priorities and your own way of working on yourself.
Vedanta gives a framework within which you can work on yourself, which is time tested, rigorous, nonsectarian, broad based, well rounded, nonlimiting, personality independent and mostly positive.
So Big Pharma need not be worried. It’s not that easy. Problems will continue to be there. We are just inviting more people to the party. We can call it ‘complementary
approach’. This approach of becoming a pure observer of oneself. But what if it really helps people? What if they do not need the drugs anymore? Man, these things can start worrying Big Pharma. If anxiety grips Big Pharma, Big problem. You never know what they will do. So, we tell them, relax, take a chill pill. Solution is at hand. Big Pharma can learn to become pure observer of itself. And the anxiety will lessen its hold on them. And that will be a Big Help to everybody around.
What about Big Religions. Would they have a problem? Is this a competing ideology? Is knowing oneself evil? If they see competition, then Big Problem again. Man, only problems all around.
You get it wrong. Religions themselves were never the problem. Its only their followers. Ask any follower of any religion. He will assure you; his Religion is perfect. It’s given by God himself. It’s bound to be perfect. It’s the followers who misinterpret them. Or misuse them. You see, when imperfect people try to follow perfect religions, there are bound to be imperfections. And by Lord, what a mess they make of it.
So, the solution then really stands out. Make people perfect. Then they become perfect followers. If the religion is going to get perfect followers, then the perfection of religion is going to shine forth.
Vedanta is only concerned about making the individual perfect. Not related to religion per se.
And HOW does it make the individual PERFECT?
Geez, by now you should know. By getting the individual to see himself or herself. If you could see yourself in totality, and see your imperfections, would you leave them there? Some people just don’t get it.
So, you see Big Religions should be happy. They are getting better followers. GOD will be happy too. HIS chosen religion is finally looking good. You see, he too was getting worried about his image being created in us. It doesn’t matter which is his chosen religion. All will benefit. We can call Vedanta as an introductory approach. A 101 to religion. the spiritual core. A beginner’s companion guide. Whatever. As long as everybody is happy.
Am I being fundamentalist? Am I trying to promote Vedanta on the sly? Not a chance. If you don’t like Vedanta, you can try Q’donto. Or meditation. Meditation involves sitting in one place and doing nothing. Trust me, it is not as simple as it sounds. Or you can start listening to what your wife says to you. See yourself as she sees you. Or if you are really up to it, you can start with your Mother-in-law. But
trust me …. actually, you don’t need to trust me here. Think about it for yourself. Would you be sitting in front of your mother-in-law giving her unfiltered opinion about you or would you rather be sitting in a chair where somebody is talking about some abstract concepts, nothing related to you, with hopefully some jokes and stories thrown in between. So that you don’t doze off. Actually, even if you doze off, nobody will know. If by chance somebody knows you can always say you were meditating. The latter wins hand down. I would say go step by step. Start by doing hardly anything in a Vedanta class. Move to doing nothing in meditation. And when you are finally up to it, sit in front of your mother-in-law. If you can sit through, you are through.
So much trouble for something sooo simple. Becoming a pure observer of oneself. Being able to see oneself, know oneself. The ability to see oneself, to know oneself by becoming one’s own pure observer is THE most important thing in the world. It is worth all the effort to gain that ability. It is worth all the effort to gain that ability. It is worth all the effort to gain that ability.
About Vedanta
=> Vedanta is composed of two words, Veda and anta… Veda means knowledge (also refers to the Vedas, the primeval source of scriptures). Anta means the end, i.e., the culmination of all knowledge (correspondingly, refers to the Upanishads, which are the final portion of the Vedas). It is, as mentioned in the article, the knowledge of one’s own true nature.
=> Traditionally the study of Vedanta involves the study of the Upanishads, Bhagavat Gita, and the Brahma sutras. I recommend the following for basic reading – listed in the order of priority
i. Ishavasya Upanishad [Extraordinarily brief (just 18 stanzas), clear and impactful, brings about the goal of self-realization in the forefront, if there is only one thing that one must read, this is it]. This has been commented by me as well and can be downloaded from this same website..
ii. Kena Upanishad [Kenaby whom … focus on the process of questioning and the thinking/intellectual approach]
iii. Mundaka Upanishad [Place where Brahman is actually described, also brings about strongly the futility of rituals as well as targeting heaven as a goal]
iv. Kailvalya Upanishad & many others [There are many more, which if inclined one can pursue]
v. Bhagavat Gita [Very famous Q & A between Arjuna and Shri Krishna. However, while this is considered as the essence of all Upanishads, all said and done, this is a contextual document , and unless one understands the context … the background Mahabharata war as well as Arjuna’s predicament and what is self-realization, there is a possibility that one can misunderstand & misinterpret it] The above is sufficient to get a good overview of the subject.
=> There are many teachers and many schools dealing with Vedanta. It is recommended that one listens to at least two schools and eventually comes to one’s own interpretation/understanding. Do not presume any interpretation to be ‘true’ or correct until one crossverifies with one’s own observation and analysis. This of course applies to the source texts as well. It is also helpful at times to actually listen to teachers directly. Some of the better known teachers schools who have explained in English are i) A. Parthasarathy http://www.vedantaworld.org/ ii) Swami Dayanand Saraswathi http://books.arshavidya.org/ iii) Ramakrishna mission (multiple authors – http://www.vedantaebooks.org/, http://www.vedanta.org/, http://vedantasociety.net/ )
iv) Chinmaya mission http://www.chinfo.org/webinar/ … there are of course many many more individual authors.